The Phoenicians were one of the most important
civilisations of the ancient world, and flourished
from around 1500 to 300 BC. Their world was
centred on Northern Israel, Lebanon and Syria,
while their sphere of conquest and influence
extended throughout the Mediterranean and
even beyond the Pillars of Hercules (the Straits of
Gibraltar) and into the Mediterranean-Atlantic.
Their power was due primarily to their mastery of
seamanship – which they developed to a whole
new level during their pre-eminence – and
extremely well-organised administration which
was strengthened by extensive use of the
alphabet. Indeed, it was the Phoenicians who
introduced the alphabet to the Greeks, who in
turn passed it onto the rest of the Western
World. They were essentially Canaanites, to
whom they were identical in sociocultural and
material terms, the only difference being the
massive range over which their cultural remains
and heritage can be found. Phoenician society
was comparatively stable when compared to the
changeable fortunes of other Eastern
Mediterranean cultures, primarily due to its
broad royal, political and religious foundations.
The town of Byblos became a major hub for trade
all over the Fertile Crescent, followed by Tyre
and Sidon; overseas territories notably included
Carthage (founded 814 BC), but they either took
over or culturally dominated trading ports from
Cyprus to Malta, Spain, Portugal and Sardinia.
They traded in purple dye (“Tyrian Purple”),
textiles, luxury ceramics, silver, tin (with
England) and glass, explored down the west
coast of Africa as far as the Gulf of Guinea, and
may even have circumnavigated Africa in around
600 BC.